Wonderful Widgets #1

Mudhugger Front Fender (by Andrew)

Unlike the Mudhugger rear fenders, which double as anti-theft devices, their front fender models are single-application items. They’re ‘just’ fenders. Easy to install, take an absolute kicking, fit massive tires, and really what else is there to say about it? Oh, they’re made in the UK from 100% recycled materials.

Mudhugger makes a few different front options now, including EVO bolt-on fender models that fit Fox forks as default and also have adapters to interface with select RockShox, DVO, and Öhlins models. My fender is a few years old and it’s just the plain ol’ zip-tie mounted, 40 USD, FRX model.

I leave it on all year round and at least once it’s saved me from eating some doggy diarrhea that I don’t think a smaller fender would have entirely deflected. That, frankly, is an example of a product paying for itself many times over within a few seconds because a 3” Bontrager XR4 tire can paddle up a heck of a dung-dollop. 

BikeYoke Aimy Locking Headset Spacer (by Andrew)

The challenges of living in a small space with a couple of other cyclists are two-fold. First, find enough ceiling space to hang clothes racks for drying our daily laundry output. Then, find enough wall space to store our various bikes. One part of solving the second riddle is playing a game of bicycle Tetris that becomes significantly easier when stems are loosened so handlebars can be turned.

I have a few pieces of advice about this process. For safety’s sake, always tighten the stem back up once it’s been rotated. This way when a bike comes down off its hook the rider is forced to grab a tool and loosen the stem to re-align the bars and is, therefore, more likely to properly tighten their stem up as part of the process. For suspension performance, always store bikes vertically with their front wheels in the air so that fork bushings and seals are lubricated. Finally, consider a locking headset spacer, like the BikeYoke Aimy, for under each stem.

Aimy is 8mm tall, so between a typical 5mm and 10mm headset spacer, and CNC machined from aluminum. It keeps my headset perfectly preloaded whether I’m swapping stems or stem height to adjust fit or I’m just straightening my handlebar to get out for a ride, or on a ride. My stem lines up with the Aimy spacers, which makes getting everything back to proper alignment much faster. Having one fewer thing to think about is well worth the one-time cost of 16 USD. 

Carbon Brake Levers (by Andrew)

Here in the Canadian Pacific Southwest (PSW) we’re getting back into the temperature range where even on a properly rainy day some nice aluminum brake lever blades with textured drilling and smoothly machined curves are a winning setup. Certainly, they’re more durable than plastic-fantastic, which is why I assume it’s all aluminum all the time on DH and Enduro racing rigs.

My kid, The Clairebarian, and I wouldn’t trade our carbon lever blades for anything in the cold winter months though. Regularly it makes it possible to ride in lighter-weight gloves, improving the on-trail experience. As I’ve found my circulation getting worse with age, on some properly cold-and-moist adventures they’re an investment in comfort that I can’t understand more folks don’t make. It’s the one place, or one of the places in addition to a carbon handlebar, where performance and comfort improvements per dollar are fantastic. At least when it’s cold outside. 

Claire received a set of used SRAM Guide brakes that happened to have carbon levers and the difference in cold comfort was immediately noticeable. I’ve been riding a pair of Hayes Dominion T4 brakes for a while now and as much as I love the machined A4 lever blades, the carbon option is worth every extra penny for my use case.

It occurs to me that with all the very good nylon, glass-fiber, composite, read ‘plastic’ flat pedals on the market these days there would surely be a market for injection molded replacement lever blades for the most common systems. I’m thinking about those who’d like the cold retention canceling effects of carbon over aluminum but without the massive cost boost for minimal weight savings. Maybe it’s not possible to make them adequately durable in good shapes that are comparable feeling to carbon or machined aluminum blades. Or, maybe no one has tried. 

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SRAM PC XX1 11-Speed Chains (by Andrew)

Right now, at this exact moment in time, there are way too many brand-new, top-quality, SRAM PC XX1 11-speed (11spd) chains in the world. I know this to be true because, while they’re not on sale everywhere, I just bought a stack of them for a deep discount. Why a whole stack? I’m considering it an up-front investment buying the best shifting and durability at the same price as budget-friendlier chains I’ll eventually need to buy anyway. Plus, SRAM’s not listing them anymore so I assume once they’re gone, they’re gone.

Through the magic of running past-generation kits, the PC XX1 11spd is the best choice for every drivetrain in my household. Both my wife’s Shimano XTR/XT 10-speed MTB setup running a SunRace cassette and her Rival 1x11 commuter rig can run this chain. My kid's 2005 SRAM X0/Shimano Zee drivetrain with 10-speed spacing is good to go too. Then there’s the fifteen-year-old XTR M970 6-speed setup on my commuter and the current Shimano XT M8130 LinkGlide setup from my hardtail. Yes, even on my single-speed I notice a combination of better performance and longer life over any other chain I’ve tried. 

Why 11-Speed? Well, for one, even at full pop the XX1 11spd chain is significantly less expensive than the equivalent 12spd option from any brand. Then on top of that, as part of their project to develop LinkGlide, Shimano figured out that of the existing chain standards, 11spd had the best contact with rings and cogs. Seems like a straightforward choice to me.

Yes, an 11spd chain is not compatible with a 12spd drivetrain, and they’re definitely not SRAM T-Type compatible, but then it turns out that neither am I. Whether you’re one-speeding, running one of Shimano’s latest LinkGlide drivetrains, or sticking with older an 10/11-speed ShiRAMano drivetrain it’s worth asking your preferred local bike shop about treating yourself to a deal on a PC XX1 11-Speed chain, or five.

Bontrager Rapid Pack Hydro (by Julia Tellman)

After making do with mediocre hip packs since they became de rigueur a decade ago, I decided I needed something that was actually superior to a backpack in more ways than just avoiding back sweat. One day I noticed a friend’s waist-hugging, high-capacity pack and had to know what it was. He told me it was Bontrager’s Rapid Pack so I scurried off to check the internet, read a lot of rave reviews, and conveniently found an unused pack for sale on Poshmark. 

The Rapid Pack Hydro lives up to the hype. With curved padding around the back panel, it conforms to my back way better than other hip packs, and the straps don’t loosen up as badly through a ride. The reviews I read noted that the hydration hose refuses to stay put, and I definitely found that to be true, so I got rid of it immediately. Fortunately the hose can disconnect from the bladder, so on big rides without good water sources, I can still carry a 1.5 L bladder to refill my bottles if needed. Otherwise the centered stretchy bottle carrier on the pack is a big improvement over asymmetrical holders, and this pack bounces less in jumps than other packs I’ve used. 

It also holds a ton of stuff and has stretchy pockets that expand when you jam your jacket or sandwich in there. When I remove the bladder, the rear compartment doubles as a really good additional pocket that can hold more food or even a pump–somehow, thanks to the curve of the pack, having a hand pump against my lumbar isn’t annoying. It’s not the most aesthetically pleasing thing in the world, but the good thing about black packs is that you don’t get too bothered when they inevitably get irreparably mud-covered and mud-colored. 

Ergon GDH Team Grips (by Cy Whitling)

As I have stated before on this site, I'm a picky man with a silly job that involves switching between bikes a whole bunch. I'm especially picky about grips. I've got average sized hands (Large in most glove brands) but I prefer smaller diameter grips, with as much padding as possible jammed into that smaller diameter. And I want them to be sticky when I'm riding without gloves, but also still grip well when it's wet and my gloves are saturated. And I want affordable housing in a mountain town, and a pet unicorn. My list of demands is long.

In typical Ergon fashion, there's a bunch of science going on with these $40 grips, but the short version is that the GDH is Ergon's gravity grip, designed for DH racing, and it's got a mixed-pattern design with a combination of pads, diamonds, and a grid. Ergon marks left vs. right grips, and even gives you a handy cue on the lock ring for which side of the grip should be facing up.

I generally prefer grips that latch onto your hands via soft rubber compounds, but they wear out fast, and replacing them often feels wasteful. In contrast, the GDH offers great grip in the wet or dry, with or without gloves, and good hand comfort, all while wearing super slowly. I'm optimistic that these will last me much longer than my typical grip timelines, even though I'm moving them from test bike to test bike to keep things feeling consistent.